Professional Music Faculty

"My courses are hands-on. You learn, you do. The students definitely want to know how to handle their money. They ask a lot of questions, good questions, because the subject matter is off-topic—it's not music."

"I teach Movement for Musicians. I start off just like a dance class, with some running in place and jumping jacks, and they're learning all the traditional terms: pliés, tendus, etc. But we also do a lot of stretching of the hamstrings, a lot of alignment work. The students are just very tight. I think musicians are always surrounding their instruments or doing something over and over again, so injuries start happening. It blows my mind how tight they are in their structures. We're just finding some sort of release of the tension right now."

"Pro music has always attracted really good musicians who are self-directed and know what they want to do. But they don't necessarily know how to do it. Right now in Career Planning, we're doing some writing exercises called the passion list, where you do a list of everything you love to do and everything you're good at doing. Then you marry those two lists, find the common part, find where the jobs are, and then you list the skills needed to get a job doing something that you're good at and you love. So you're starting with the emotional/spiritual side, then you marry that to your competency, and then you list the jobs."

"The question I often will ask students is 'How will you see a return on your investment of time and money in coming to Berklee?

How do you intend to realize artistic fulfillment and attain self-actualization? What is it that's going to make you feel fulfilled and happy in your career?' There are techniques related to these issues that are teachable. Some of these techniques have to do with marketing. You need strategies for reaching your prospective audience and for presenting yourself effectively to the right people in the industry. Our students are also strongly focused on learning the techniques involved in creating good music. There is a place where these techniques intersect, and I try to help students see it and visualize their niche, where they fit in."